Method and apparatus for operating functions of electronic device having flexible display

ABSTRACT

The present invention comprises a flexible display that surrounds the front surface of an electronic device and a control unit that controls operation of functions of the flexible display-based electronic device. The control unit may display a plurality of icons corresponding to an application or a specific function in at least one area among sub areas of the flexible display; the control unit may sense an input for selecting at least one icon among the plurality of icons; the control unit may sense an input for swiping the at least one selected icon to at least one area among main areas of the flexible display; and the control unit may process a control such that an application or a specific function, which corresponds to the at least one selected icon, is executed, and a screen corresponding to the execution is displayed in the main area corresponding to the sensed swipe input.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application is a continuation application of prior application Ser.No. 16/067,347, filed on Jun. 29, 2018, which is a U.S. National Stageapplication under 35 U.S.C. § 371 of an International application numberPCT/KR2017/000400, filed on Jan. 12, 2017, which was based on andclaimed priority under 35 U.S.C § 119(a) of a Korean patent applicationnumber 10-2016-0003804, filed on Jan. 12, 2016, in the KoreanIntellectual Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Various embodiments of the present invention relate to a flexibledisplay of an electronic device and a method of operating the same.

BACKGROUND ART

Nowadays, with the development of digital technology, various mobileterminals capable of processing communication and personal informationwhile moving, such as a mobile communication terminal, personal digitalassistant (PDA), electronic organizer, smart phone, and tablet personalcomputer (PC), have been released. The mobile terminals are in a mobileconvergence step that can perform functions of other terminals as wellas original functions thereof.

Recently, a flexible display and an electronic device having a flexibledisplay implemented by a combination of the flexible display and theelectronic device have been developed. The flexible display indicates adisplay that can freely bend and spread.

In particular, nowadays, research and development of an electronicdevice having a flexible display has been performed. Therefore, there isnecessity for development in an external shape of the electronic devicehaving a flexible display and a research for improving convenience of afunction control of an electronic device using the flexible displaymounted in the electronic device.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION Technical Problem

The present invention provides an electronic device and a method ofoperating a function thereof that can extend a display area to a sidesurface and a rear surface as well as a front surface of the electronicdevice by implementing a flexible display in the electronic device.

The present invention further provides an electronic device and a methodof operating a function thereof that can divide a flexible display intoa main area of a front surface and a rear surface and a sub-area of aside surface and that can support a function control and a functiondisplay of the electronic device using the sub-area in the electronicdevice having the flexible display.

The present invention further provides an electronic device and a methodof operating a function thereof that can support easy and quick accessto information related to a screen displayed in a main area using asub-area of the flexible display and that can enhance usability andoperability of a user for a function control of the electronic deviceusing a sub-area.

Solution to Problem

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, an electronicdevice includes a flexible display configured to enclose an frontsurface of the electronic device; and a controller configured to controlan electronic device function operation based on the flexible display,wherein the controller controls to display a plurality of iconscorresponding to an application or a specific function in at least onearea of sub-areas of the flexible display, to detect an input forselecting at least one icon of the plurality icons, to detect a swipeinput of the selected at least one icon in at least one area of mainareas of the flexible display, to execute the application or thespecific function corresponding to the selected at least one icon, andto display a screen according to the execution in the main area in whichthe swipe input is detected.

Advantageous Effects of Invention

In a flexible display of an electronic device and a method of operatingthe same according to various embodiments, by using a display extendedto a side surface of the electronic device, utilization of theelectronic device can be increased.

In a flexible display of an electronic device and a method of operatingthe same according to various embodiments, by controlling a frontsurface and a rear surface of the electronic device through a displayextended to a side surface of the electronic device, convenience can beprovided to the user.

In a flexible display of an electronic device and a method of operatingthe same according to various embodiments, when the flexible display isinterworked or connected with an external electronic device, theelectronic device can easily control the external electronic devicethrough a graphical user interface (GUI) provided in the electronicdevice.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice in a network environment according to various embodiments.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to various embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a programmodule according to various embodiments.

FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an electronic device having aflexible display according to various embodiments.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIGS. 12A to 12B are diagrams illustrating an electronic device having aflexible display according to various embodiments.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIGS. 21A to 21D are diagrams illustrating an electronic device having aflexible display according to various embodiments.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

FIGS. 23A and 23B are diagrams illustrating an electronic device havinga flexible display according to various embodiments.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an electronic device having a flexibledisplay according to various embodiments.

MODE FOR THE INVENTION

Hereinafter, various embodiments of this document will be described withreference to the accompanying drawings. However, it should be understoodthat technology described in this document is not limited to a specificembodiment and includes various modifications, equivalents, and/oralternatives of an embodiment of this document. The same referencenumbers are used throughout the drawings to refer to the same or likeparts.

In this document, an expression such as “have,” “may have,” “comprise,”or “may comprise” indicates existence of a corresponding characteristic(e.g., constituent element such as a numerical value, function,operation, or component) and does not exclude the presence of anothercharacteristic.

In this document, an expression such as “A or B”, “at least one of Aor/and B”, or “one or more of A or/and B” may include all possiblecombinations of together listed items. For example, “A or B,” “at leastone of A and B,” or “one or more of A or B” may indicate all of (1) acase of including at least one A, (2) a case of including at least oneB, and (3) a case of including both at least one A and at least one B.

In the present disclosure, expressions including ordinal numbers, suchas “first” and “second,” etc., may modify various elements. However,such elements are not limited by the above expressions. For example, theabove expressions do not limit the sequence and/or importance of theelements. The above expressions are used merely for the purpose todistinguish an element from the other elements. For example, a firstuser device and a second user device indicate different user devicesalthough both of them are user devices. For example, a first elementcould be termed a second element, and similarly, a second element couldbe also termed a first element without departing from the scope of thepresent disclosure.

In the case where a component is referred to as being “connected” or“accessed” to other component, it should be understood that not only thecomponent is directly connected or accessed to the other component, butalso there may exist another component between them. Meanwhile, in thecase where a component is referred to as being “directly connected” or“directly accessed” to other component, it should be understood thatthere is no component therebetween. The terms used in the presentdisclosure are only used to describe specific various embodiments, andare not intended to limit the present disclosure. As used herein, thesingular forms are intended to include the plural forms as well, unlessthe context clearly indicates otherwise. Singular forms are intended toinclude plural forms unless the context clearly indicates otherwise.

An expression “configured to” used in this document may beinterchangeably used with, for example, “suitable for”, “having thecapacity to”, “designed to”, “adapted to”, “made to”, or “capable of”according to a situation. A term “configured to” does not always mean“specifically designed to” in hardware. Alternatively, in any situation,an expression “device configured to” may mean that the device is“capable of” being configured together with another device or component.For example, a “processor configured to perform phrases A, B, and C” maybe a generic-purpose processor (e.g., CPU or application processor) thatexecutes an exclusive processor (e.g., an embedded processor) forperforming a corresponding operation or at least one software programstored at a memory device to perform a corresponding operation.

Terms used in this document are used for describing a specificembodiment and do not limit a range of another embodiment. Unless thecontext otherwise clearly indicates, words used in the singular includethe plural, and the plural includes the singular. Terms used hereincluding a technical or scientific term have the same meaning as thatwhich may be generally understood by a person of common skill in theart. Terms defined in a general dictionary among terms used in thisdocument may be analyzed as the same meaning as or a meaning similar tothat in a context of related technology, and unless it is clearlydefined in this document, the term is not analyzed as having an ideal orexcessively formal meaning. In some cases, a term defined in thisdocument cannot be analyzed to exclude the embodiments of this document.

An electronic device according to various exemplary embodiments of thepresent invention may be a device including a communication function.For example, the electronic device may include at least one of a smartphone, tablet personal computer (PC), mobile phone, video phone, e-bookreader, desktop PC, laptop PC, netbook computer, personal digitalassistant (PDA), portable multimedia player (PMP), MPEG 3 (MP3) player,mobile medical equipment, camera, wearable device (e.g.,head-mounted-device (HMD) such as electronic glasses), electronicclothing, electronic bracelet, electronic necklace, electronicaccessory, electronic tattoo, and smart watch.

In any embodiment, the electronic device may be a smart home appliance.The smart home appliance may include at least one of, for example, atelevision, digital video disk (DVD) player, audio device, refrigerator,air-conditioner, cleaner, oven, microwave oven, washing machine, aircleaner, set-top box, home automation control panel, security controlpanel, television box (e.g., Samsung HomeSync™, AppleTV™, or GoogleTV™), game console (e.g., Xbox™, PlayStation™), electronic dictionary,electronic key, camcorder, and electronic frame.

In another embodiment, an electronic device may include at least one ofvarious medical devices (e.g., various portable medical measurementdevices (blood sugar measurement device, heartbeat measurement device,blood pressure measurement device, or body temperature measurementdevice), magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) device, magnetic resonanceimaging (MRI) device, computed tomography (CT) device, scanning machine,and ultrasonic wave device), navigation device, global positioningsystem (GPS) receiver, event data recorder (EDR), flight data recorder(FDR), vehicle infotainment device, ship electronic equipment (e.g.,ship navigation device, gyro compass), avionics, security device,vehicle head unit, industrial or home robot, automatic teller's machine(ATM) of a financial institution, point of sales (POS) of a store, andInternet of things (e.g., bulb, various sensors, electricity or gasmeter, sprinkler, fire alarm, thermostat, street light, toaster,exercise mechanism, hot water tank, heater, boiler).

According to any embodiment, the electronic device may include at leastone of a portion of furniture or a building/structure, electronic board,electronic signature receiving device, projector, and variousmeasurement devices (e.g., water supply, electricity, gas, or electricwave measurement device). In various embodiments, the electronic devicemay be a combination of one or more of the foregoing various devices. Anelectronic device according to any embodiment may be a flexibleelectronic device. Further, the electronic device according to anembodiment of this document is not limited to the foregoing devices andmay include a new electronic device according to technology development.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of an electronicdevice according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

Referring to FIG. 1, the electronic device 100 may include a bus 110, aprocessor 120, a memory 130, a user input module 140, a display module150, a communication module 160, and other similar and/or suitablecomponents.

The bus 110 may be a circuit which interconnects the above-describedelements and delivers a communication (e.g., a control message) betweenthe above-described elements.

The processor 120 may receive commands from the above-described otherelements (e.g., the memory 130, the user input module 140, the displaymodule 150, the communication module 160, etc.) through the bus 110, mayinterpret the received commands, and may execute calculation or dataprocessing according to the interpreted commands.

The memory 130 may store commands or data received from the processor120 or other elements (e.g., the user input module 140, the displaymodule 150, the communication module 160, etc.) or generated by theprocessor 120 or the other elements. The memory 130 may includeprogramming modules, such as a kernel 131, middleware 132, anApplication Programming Interface (API) 133, an application 134, and thelike. Each of the above-described programming modules may be implementedin software, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or morethereof.

The kernel 131 may control or manage system resources (e.g., the bus110, the processor 120, the memory 130, etc.) used to execute operationsor functions implemented by other programming modules (e.g., themiddleware 132, the API 133, and the application 134). Also, the kernel131 may provide an interface capable of accessing and controlling ormanaging the individual elements of the electronic device 100 by usingthe middleware 132, the API 133, or the application 134.

The middleware 132 may serve to go between the API 133 or theapplication 134 and the kernel 131 in such a manner that the API 133 orthe application 134 communicates with the kernel 131 and exchanges datatherewith.

Also, in relation to work requests received from one or moreapplications 134 and/or the middleware 132, for example, may performload balancing of the work requests by using a method of assigning apriority, in which system resources (e.g., the bus 110, the processor120, the memory 130, etc.) of the electronic device 100 can be used, toat least one of the one or more applications 134.

The API 133 is an interface through which the application 134 is capableof controlling a function provided by the kernel 131 or the middleware132, and may include, for example, at least one interface or functionfor file control, window control, image processing, character control,or the like.

The user input module 140, for example, may receive a command or data asinput from a user, and may deliver the received command or data to theprocessor 120 or the memory 130 through the bus 110.

The display 150 may include a liquid crystal display (LCD), alight-emitting diode (LED) display, an organic LED (OLED) display, amicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) display, or an electronic paperdisplay. The display 150 may display, for example, various contents,such as a text, an image, a video, an icon, and a symbol, to a user. Thedisplay 150 may include a touch screen and may receive a touch, gesture,proximity, or hovering input using an electronic pen or a part of auser's body.

The communication module 160 may connect communication between anotherelectronic device 102 and the electronic device 100.

The communication module 160 may support a predetermined short-rangecommunication protocol (e.g., Wi-Fi, BlueTooth (BT), and Near FieldCommunication (NFC)), or predetermined network communication 162 (e.g.,the Internet, a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), atelecommunication network, a cellular network, a satellite network, aPlain Old Telephone Service (POTS), or the like). Each of the electronicdevices 102 and 104 may be a device which is identical (e.g., of anidentical type) to or different (e.g., of a different type) from theelectronic device 100. Further, the communication module 160 may connectcommunication between a server 164 and the electronic device 100 via thenetwork 162.

The MST may generate a pulse in response to transmission data using anelectromagnetic signal, and the pulse may generate a magnetic fieldsignal. The electronic device 101 may transfer the magnetic field signalto a POS device, and the POS device may detect the magnetic field signalusing an MST reader. The POS device may recover the data by convertingthe detected magnetic field signal to an electrical signal.

The GNSS may be, for example, a GPS, a global navigation satellitesystem (GLONASS), a BeiDou navigation satellite system (hereinafter,“BeiDou”), or Galileo, which is the European global satellite-basednavigation system. In the present document, “GPS” may be interchangeablyused with “GNSS” hereinafter. The wired communication may include, forexample, at least one of universal serial bus (USB), high definitionmultimedia interface (HDMI), recommended standard 232 (RS-232), powerline communication, and plain old telephone service (POTS).

Each of the first and second external electronic devices 102 and 104 maybe a device of which the type is different from or the same as that ofthe electronic device 101. The server 106 may include a group of one ormore servers. According to embodiments of the present disclosure, all ora portion of operations that the electronic device 101 will perform maybe executed by another or plural electronic devices, such as the firstexternal electronic device 102, the second external electronic device104 or the server 106. In the case where the electronic device 101executes any function or service automatically or in response to arequest, the electronic device 101 may not perform the function or theservice internally, but alternatively or additionally, it may request atleast a portion of a function associated with the electronic device 101from another device, such as the external electronic device 102 or 104or the server 106. The other electronic device may execute the requestedfunction or additional function and may transmit the execution result tothe electronic device 101. The electronic device 101 may provide therequested function or service using the received result or mayadditionally process the received result to provide the requestedfunction or service. To this end, for example, cloud computing,distributed computing, or client-server computing may be used.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of hardware 200according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The hardware 200 may be, for example, the electronic device 100illustrated in FIG. 1.

Referring to FIG. 2, the hardware 200 may include one or more processors210, a Subscriber Identification Module (SIM) card 214, a memory 220, acommunication module 230, a sensor module 240, a user input module 250,a display module 260, an interface 270, an audio coder/decoder (codec)280, a camera module 291, a power management module 295, a battery 296,an indicator 297, a motor 298 and any other similar and/or suitablecomponents.

The processor 210 (e.g., the processor 120) may include one or moreApplication Processors (APs) 211, or one or more CommunicationProcessors (CPs) 213. The processor 210 may be, for example, theprocessor 120 illustrated in FIG. 1. The AP 211 and the CP 213 areillustrated as being included in the processor 210 in FIG. 2, but may beincluded in different Integrated Circuit (IC) packages, respectively.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 211 and theCP 213 may be included in one IC package.

The AP 211 may execute an Operating System (OS) or an applicationprogram, and thereby may control multiple hardware or software elementsconnected to the AP 211 and may perform processing of and arithmeticoperations on various data including multimedia data. The AP 211 may beimplemented by, for example, a System on Chip (SoC). According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the processor 210 may furtherinclude a Graphical Processing Unit (GPU) (not illustrated).

The CP 213 may manage a data line and may convert a communicationprotocol in the case of communication between the electronic device(e.g., the electronic device 100) including the hardware 200 anddifferent electronic devices connected to the electronic device throughthe network. The CP 213 may be implemented by, for example, a SoC.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the CP 213 mayperform at least some of multimedia control functions. The CP 213, forexample, may distinguish and authenticate a terminal in a communicationnetwork by using a subscriber identification module (e.g., the SIM card214). Also, the CP 213 may provide the user with services, such as avoice telephony call, a video telephony call, a text message, packetdata, and the like.

Further, the CP 213 may control the transmission and reception of databy the communication module 230. In FIG. 2, the elements such as the CP213, the power management module 295, the memory 220, and the like areillustrated as elements separate from the AP 211. However, according toan embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 211 may include at leastsome (e.g., the CP 213) of the above-described elements.

According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the AP 211 or theCP 213 may load, to a volatile memory, a command or data received fromat least one of a non-volatile memory and other elements connected toeach of the AP 211 and the CP 213, and may process the loaded command ordata. Also, the AP 211 or the CP 213 may store, in a non-volatilememory, data received from or generated by at least one of the otherelements.

The SIM card 214 may be a card implementing a subscriber identificationmodule, and may be inserted into a slot formed in a particular portionof the electronic device 100. The SIM card 214 may include uniqueidentification information (e.g., Integrated Circuit Card IDentifier(ICCID)) or subscriber information (e.g., International MobileSubscriber Identity (IMSI)).

The memory 220 may include an internal memory 222 and an external memory224. The memory 220 may be, for example, the memory 130 illustrated inFIG. 1. The internal memory 222 may include, for example, at least oneof a volatile memory (e.g., a Dynamic RAM (DRAM), a Static RAM (SRAM), aSynchronous Dynamic RAM (SDRAM), etc.), and a non-volatile memory (e.g.,a One Time Programmable ROM (OTPROM), a Programmable ROM (PROM), anErasable and Programmable ROM (EPROM), an Electrically Erasable andProgrammable ROM (EEPROM), a mask ROM, a flash ROM, a Not AND (NAND)flash memory, a Not OR (NOR) flash memory, etc.). According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the internal memory 222 may be inthe form of a Solid State Drive (SSD). The external memory 224 mayfurther include a flash drive, for example, a Compact Flash (CF), aSecure Digital (SD), a Micro-Secure Digital (Micro-SD), a Mini-SecureDigital (Mini-SD), an extreme Digital (xD), a memory stick, or the like.

The communication module 230 may include a wireless communication module231 or a Radio Frequency (RF) module 234. The communication module 230may be, for example, the communication module 160 illustrated in FIG. 1.The wireless communication module 231 may include, for example, a Wi-Fipart 233, a BT part 235, a GPS part 237, or a NFC part 239. For example,the wireless communication module 231 may provide a wirelesscommunication function by using a radio frequency. Additionally oralternatively, the wireless communication module 231 may include anetwork interface (e.g., a LAN card), a modulator/demodulator (modem),or the like for connecting the hardware 200 to a network (e.g., theInternet, a LAN, a WAN, a telecommunication network, a cellular network,a satellite network, a POTS, or the like).

The RF module 234 may be used for transmission and reception of data,for example, transmission and reception of RF signals or calledelectronic signals. Although not illustrated, the RF unit 234 mayinclude, for example, a transceiver, a Power Amplifier Module (PAM), afrequency filter, a Low Noise Amplifier (LNA), or the like. Also, the RFmodule 234 may further include a component for transmitting andreceiving electromagnetic waves in a free space in a wirelesscommunication, for example, a conductor, a conductive wire, or the like.

The sensor module 240 may include, for example, at least one of agesture sensor 240A, a gyro sensor 240B, an atmospheric pressure sensor240C, a magnetic sensor 240D, an acceleration sensor 240E, a grip sensor240F, a proximity sensor 240G, a Red, Green and Blue (RGB) sensor 240H,a biometric sensor 240I, a temperature/humidity sensor 240J, anilluminance sensor 240K, and a Ultra Violet (UV) sensor 240M. The sensormodule 240 may measure a physical quantity or may sense an operatingstate of the electronic device 100, and may convert the measured orsensed information to an electrical signal.

Additionally/alternatively, the sensor module 240 may include, forexample, an E-nose sensor (not illustrated), an ElectroMyoGraphy (EMG)sensor (not illustrated), an ElectroEncephaloGram (EEG) sensor (notillustrated), an ElectroCardioGram (ECG) sensor (not illustrated), afingerprint sensor (not illustrated), and the like. Additionally oralternatively, the sensor module 240 may include, for example, an E-nosesensor (not illustrated), an EMG sensor (not illustrated), an EEG sensor(not illustrated), an ECG sensor (not illustrated), a fingerprintsensor, and the like. The sensor module 240 may further include acontrol circuit (not illustrated) for controlling one or more sensorsincluded therein.

The user input module 250 may include a touch panel 252, a pen sensor254 (e.g., a digital pen sensor), keys 256, and an ultrasonic input unit258. The user input module 250 may be, for example, the user inputmodule 140 illustrated in FIG. 1. The touch panel 252 may recognize atouch input in at least one of, for example, a capacitive scheme, aresistive scheme, an infrared scheme, and an acoustic wave scheme. Also,the touch panel 252 may further include a controller (not illustrated).In the capacitive type, the touch panel 252 is capable of recognizingproximity as well as a direct touch. The touch panel 252 may furtherinclude a tactile layer (not illustrated). In this event, the touchpanel 252 may provide a tactile response to the user.

The pen sensor 254 (e.g., a digital pen sensor), for example, may beimplemented by using a method identical or similar to a method ofreceiving a touch input from the user, or by using a separate sheet forrecognition. For example, a key pad or a touch key may be used as thekeys 256. The ultrasonic input unit 258 enables the terminal to sense asound wave by using a microphone (e.g., a microphone 288) of theterminal through a pen generating an ultrasonic signal, and to identifydata. The ultrasonic input unit 258 is capable of wireless recognition.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the hardware 200may receive a user input from an external device (e.g., a network, acomputer, or a server), which is connected to the communication module230, through the communication module 230.

The display module 260 may include a panel 262 or a hologram 264. Thedisplay module 260 may be, for example, the display module 150illustrated in FIG. 1. The panel 262 may be, for example, a LiquidCrystal Display (LCD) and an Active Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode(AM-OLED) display, and the like. The panel 262 may be implemented so asto be, for example, flexible, transparent, or wearable. The panel 262may include the touch panel 252 and one module. The hologram 264 maydisplay a three-dimensional image in the air by using interference oflight. According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the displaymodule 260 may further include a control circuit for controlling thepanel 262 or the hologram 264.

The interface 270 may include, for example, a High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) 272, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) 274, a projector 276,and a D-subminiature (D-sub) 278. Additionally or alternatively, theinterface 270 may include, for example, SD/Multi-Media Card (MMC) (notillustrated) or Infrared Data Association (IrDA) (not illustrated).

The audio codec 280 may bidirectionally convert between a voice and anelectrical signal. The audio codec 280 may convert voice information,which is input to or output from the audio codec 280, through, forexample, a speaker 282, a receiver 284, an earphone 286, the microphone288 or the like.

The camera module 291 may capture an image and a moving image. Accordingto an embodiment, the camera module 291 may include one or more imagesensors (e.g., a front lens or a back lens), an Image Signal Processor(ISP) (not illustrated), and a flash LED (not illustrated).

The power management module 295 may manage power of the hardware 200.Although not illustrated, the power management module 295 may include,for example, a Power Management Integrated Circuit (PMIC), a chargerIntegrated Circuit (IC), or a battery fuel gauge.

The PMIC may be mounted to, for example, an IC or a SoC semiconductor.Charging methods may be classified into a wired charging method and awireless charging method. The charger IC may charge a battery, and mayprevent an overvoltage or an overcurrent from a charger to the battery.According to an embodiment of the present disclosure, the charger IC mayinclude a charger IC for at least one of the wired charging method andthe wireless charging method. Examples of the wireless charging methodmay include a magnetic resonance method, a magnetic induction method, anelectromagnetic method, and the like. Additional circuits (e.g., a coilloop, a resonance circuit, a rectifier, etc.) for wireless charging maybe added in order to perform the wireless charging.

The battery fuel gauge may measure, for example, a residual quantity ofthe battery 296, or a voltage, a current or a temperature during thecharging. The battery 296 may supply power by generating electricity,and may be, for example, a rechargeable battery.

The indicator 297 may indicate particular states of the hardware 200 ora part (e.g., the AP 211) of the hardware 200, for example, a bootingstate, a message state, a charging state and the like. The motor 298 mayconvert an electrical signal into a mechanical vibration. The processor210 may control the sensor module 240.

Although not illustrated, the hardware 200 may include a processing unit(e.g., a GPU) for supporting a module TV. The processing unit forsupporting a module TV may process media data according to standardssuch as, for example, Digital Multimedia Broadcasting (DMB), DigitalVideo Broadcasting (DVB), media flow, and the like. Each of theabove-described elements of the hardware 200 according to an embodimentof the present disclosure may include one or more components, and thename of the relevant element may change depending on the type ofelectronic device. The hardware 200 according to an embodiment of thepresent disclosure may include at least one of the above-describedelements. Some of the above-described elements may be omitted from thehardware 200, or the hardware 200 may further include additionalelements. Also, some of the elements of the hardware 200 according to anembodiment of the present disclosure may be combined into one entity,which may perform functions identical to those of the relevant elementsbefore the combination.

The term “module” used in the present disclosure may refer to, forexample, a unit including one or more combinations of hardware,software, and firmware. The “module” may be interchangeable with a term,such as “unit,” “logic,” “logical block,” “component,” “circuit,” or thelike. The “module” may be a minimum unit of a component formed as onebody or a part thereof. The “module” may be a minimum unit forperforming one or more functions or a part thereof. The “module” may beimplemented mechanically or electronically. For example, the “module”according to an embodiment of the present disclosure may include atleast one of an Application-Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) chip, aField-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), and a programmable-logic devicefor performing certain operations which have been known or are to bedeveloped in the future.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration of a programmingmodule 300 according to an embodiment of the present disclosure.

The programming module 300 may be included (or stored) in the electronicdevice 100 (e.g., the memory 130) or may be included (or stored) in theelectronic device 200 (e.g., the memory 230) illustrated in FIG. 1. Atleast a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented insoftware, firmware, hardware, or a combination of two or more thereof.The programming module 300 may be implemented in hardware (e.g., thehardware 200), and may include an OS controlling resources related to anelectronic device (e.g., the electronic device 100) and/or variousapplications (e.g., an application 370) executed in the OS. For example,the OS may be Android, iOS, Windows, Symbian, Tizen, Bada, and the like.

Referring to FIG. 3, the programming module 300 may include a kernel310, a middleware 330, an API 360, and/or the application 370.

The kernel 310 (e.g., the kernel 131) may include a system resourcemanager 311 and/or a device driver 312. The system resource manager 311may include, for example, a process manager (not illustrated), a memorymanager (not illustrated), and a file system manager (not illustrated).The system resource manager 311 may perform the control, allocation,recovery, and/or the like of system resources. The device driver 312 mayinclude, for example, a display driver (not illustrated), a cameradriver (not illustrated), a Bluetooth driver (not illustrated), a sharedmemory driver (not illustrated), a USB driver (not illustrated), akeypad driver (not illustrated), a Wi-Fi driver (not illustrated),and/or an audio driver (not illustrated). Also, according to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the device driver 312 may includean Inter-Process Communication (IPC) driver (not illustrated).

The middleware 330 may include multiple modules previously implementedso as to provide a function used in common by the applications 370.Also, the middleware 330 may provide a function to the applications 370through the API 360 in order to enable the applications 370 toefficiently use limited system resources within the electronic device.For example, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the middleware 330 (e.g., themiddleware 132) may include at least one of a runtime library 335, anapplication manager 341, a window manager 342, a multimedia manager 343,a resource manager 344, a power manager 345, a database manager 346, apackage manager 347, a connectivity manager 348, a notification manager349, a location manager 350, a graphic manager 351, a security manager352, and any other suitable and/or similar manager.

The runtime library 335 may include, for example, a library module usedby a complier, in order to add a new function by using a programminglanguage during the execution of the application 370. According to anembodiment of the present disclosure, the runtime library 335 mayperform functions which are related to input and output, the managementof a memory, an arithmetic function, and/or the like.

The application manager 341 may manage, for example, a life cycle of atleast one of the applications 370. The window manager 342 may manage GUIresources used on the screen. The multimedia manager 343 may detect aformat used to reproduce various media files and may encode or decode amedia file through a codec appropriate for the relevant format. Theresource manager 344 may manage resources, such as a source code, amemory, a storage space, and/or the like of at least one of theapplications 370.

The power manager 345 may operate together with a Basic Input/OutputSystem (BIOS), may manage a battery or power, and may provide powerinformation and the like used for an operation. The database manager 346may manage a database in such a manner as to enable the generation,search and/or change of the database to be used by at least one of theapplications 370. The package manager 347 may manage the installationand/or update of an application distributed in the form of a packagefile.

The connectivity manager 348 may manage a wireless connectivity such as,for example, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The notification manager 349 maydisplay or report, to the user, an event such as an arrival message, anappointment, a proximity alarm, and the like in such a manner as not todisturb the user. The location manager 350 may manage locationinformation of the electronic device. The graphic manager 351 may managea graphic effect, which is to be provided to the user, and/or a userinterface related to the graphic effect. The security manager 352 mayprovide various security functions used for system security, userauthentication, and the like. According to an embodiment of the presentdisclosure, when the electronic device (e.g., the electronic device 100)has a telephone function, the middleware 330 may further include atelephony manager (not illustrated) for managing a voice telephony callfunction and/or a video telephony call function of the electronicdevice.

The middleware 330 may generate and use a new middleware module throughvarious functional combinations of the above-described internal elementmodules. The middleware 330 may provide modules specialized according totypes of OSs in order to provide differentiated functions. Also, themiddleware 330 may dynamically delete some of the existing elements, ormay add new elements. Accordingly, the middleware 330 may omit some ofthe elements described in the various embodiments of the presentdisclosure, may further include other elements, or may replace the someof the elements with elements, each of which performs a similar functionand has a different name.

The API 360 (e.g., the API 133) is a set of API programming functions,and may be provided with a different configuration according to an OS.In the case of Android or iOS, for example, one API set may be providedto each platform. In the case of Tizen, for example, two or more APIsets may be provided to each platform.

The applications 370 (e.g., the applications 134) may include, forexample, a preloaded application and/or a third party application. Theapplications 370 (e.g., the applications 134) may include, for example,a home application 371, a dialer application 372, a Short MessageService (SMS)/Multimedia Message Service (MMS) application 373, anInstant Message (IM) application 374, a browser application 375, acamera application 376, an alarm application 377, a contact application378, a voice dial application 379, an electronic mail (e-mail)application 380, a calendar application 381, a media player application382, an album application 383, a clock application 384, and any othersuitable and/or similar application.

At least a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented byinstructions stored in a non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium. When the instructions are executed by one or more processors(e.g., the one or more processors 210), the one or more processors mayperform functions corresponding to the instructions. The non-transitorycomputer-readable storage medium may be, for example, the memory 220. Atleast a part of the programming module 300 may be implemented (e.g.,executed) by, for example, the one or more processors 210. At least apart of the programming module 300 may include, for example, a module, aprogram, a routine, a set of instructions, and/or a process forperforming one or more functions.

Names of the elements of the programming module (e.g., the programmingmodule 300) according to an embodiment of the present disclosure maychange depending on the type of OS. The programming module according toan embodiment of the present disclosure may include one or more of theabove-described elements. Alternatively, some of the above-describedelements may be omitted from the programming module. Alternatively, theprogramming module may further include additional elements. Theoperations performed by the programming module or other elementsaccording to an embodiment of the present disclosure may be processed ina sequential method, a parallel method, a repetitive method, or aheuristic method. Also, some of the operations may be omitted, or otheroperations may be added to the operations.

A flexible display of an electronic device and a method of operating thesame according to various embodiments of the present invention will bedescribed in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 to 22.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are diagrams illustrating an electronic device having aflexible display according to various embodiments.

The electronic device according to an embodiment of the presentinvention has a bent display of a form enclosing three surfaces or foursurfaces thereof and may include constituent elements such as a flexibledisplay in which a main area of a front surface and a rear surface ofthe electronic device and a sub-area of a side surface thereof accordingto such a form are integrally formed, a display for a function of theelectronic device and a controller for controlling a function operationby interworking information of the main area and information of thesub-area. In an embodiment of the present invention, in addition to aform of the electronic device of FIGS. 4 and 5, the flexible display ofthe present invention may be implemented into various forms.

With reference to FIG. 4, an electronic device 400 of the presentinvention may include a flexible display, a main body 401 in which theflexible display is received and fastened, and additional devices formedin the main body to perform a function of the electronic device 400. Theadditional devices may include a physical button 401 and a camera 470.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the flexibledisplay is characterized in that it may be bent or rolled without beingdamaged through a thin and flexible substrate such as paper. FIG. 4illustrates partial areas 410 and 420 of the flexible display.

With reference to FIG. 5, in the present invention, areas displayed at afront surface or a rear surface of the flexible display are referred toas main areas 510 and 520 and areas extended from the main areas 510 and520 and bent in at least one side surface of a main body are referred toas sub-areas 530 and 540.

In the main area according to various embodiments of the presentinvention, a main area of a front surface may be referred to as a firstmain area 510 and a main area of a rear surface may be referred to as asecond main area 520.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, in asub-area, an area extended and bent from the first main area 510 and anarea extended and bent from the second main area 520 may be referred toas a first sub-area 530. In another embodiment, the first sub-area 530may be an area in which an area extended and bent from the first mainarea 510 and an area extended and bent from the second main area 520 areconnected.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, in thesub-area, an area extended and bent from the first main area 510 to beextended to the second main area 520 may be referred to as a secondsub-area 540.

A position of the first sub-area 530 divided on a flexible display ofthe electronic device 500 is not limited, and even if a direction of theelectronic device 500 is changed to the left/right or up/down by theuser, an area is changed in which the first sub-area 530 is positioned,but the first sub-area 530 may be changed while performing the samefunction (GUI display).

In the first sub-area 530, whenever an executed application is changed,a GUI displayed to correspond thereto may be changed.

When the electronic device 500 is interworked with an externalelectronic device, the first sub-area 530 may display a GUI that cancontrol a function related to the external electronic device. In anembodiment, the electronic device 500 may be connected or interworkedwith the external electronic device through 3.5 pie, type-c cable,Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.

The second sub-area 540 may display a plurality of images (e.g., icons)corresponding to an application or a function. The second sub-area 540may display an icon corresponding to a frequently used application andfunction by a user input. In the second sub-area 540, the electronicdevice 500 may detect a user gesture input such as drag and drop to thearea to display a plurality of images corresponding to an application ora function in order to immediately use an application or a function.According to an embodiment, a size of the plurality of images may beadjusted according to the number displayed in the second sub-area 540.According to an embodiment, the second sub-area 540 is scrolled; thus,more images may be controlled to display to the user.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, the secondsub-area 540 may be a bent area connected to and extended from at leastone of the first main area 510 and the second main area 520. Theelectronic device 500 may detect a user selection input to an icondisplayed in the second sub-area 540 and a swipe input to the first mainarea 510 or the second main area 520. The electronic device 500 mayexecute an application or a function corresponding to the icon anddisplay a screen related thereto in a determined area among the firstmain area 510 and the second main area 520 or in an area in which aswipe input is released in a direction in which the swipe input isdetected.

Here, for convenience of description of the present invention, the mainarea and the sub-area are divided, but are not limited thereto.

An electronic device of the present invention may divide a flexibledisplay into a main area of a front surface and a rear surface and asub-area of a side surface and receive a control input for a functionoperation of the electronic device and a screen display according to afunctional operation of the electronic device using the sub-area. Thatis, the flexible display may support an input and output andparticularly, the flexible display may simultaneously or individuallysupport an input and output to the sub-area. Operation examplesaccording to an input and output by interworking of the main area andthe sub-area will be described with reference to the following drawings.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating a method of operating a functionusing a flexible display in an electronic device according to variousembodiments.

Before a description of FIG. 6, according to various embodiments of thepresent invention, the electronic device may detect at least one eventof a plurality of events. When the electronic device detects an event,the electronic device may determine an event intended by the user amonga plurality of events according to a user input.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, a pluralityof events that may be detected by the electronic device may include afunction control event, content display event, content storing andsharing event, and screen conversion event.

When an external electronic device is connected to the electronic deviceor when a user input for performing a specific service is detected inthe electronic device, a function control event according to variousembodiments of the present invention may be detected.

An external electronic device connected to or interworked with theelectronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention may include an IoT product group and other applications ordevices requiring pay or control.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, a userinterface according to a function control event may be a user interfacefor providing a function of the connected external electronic device ora specific service. The user interface may be displayed in a firstsub-area. The user interface may be changed and displayed according toan interworked device, function, and application. The electronic devicemay detect a user input on the user interface displayed in the firstsub-area and perform a function related to the external electronicdevice or a specific service or application according to the detecteduser input.

When a user touch to an icon displayed in the second sub-area and whenswipe to a first main area or a second main area is detected, a contentdisplay event according to various embodiments of the present inventionmay be detected. The electronic device, having detected a user input maydisplay a content of an application corresponding to the icon in thefirst main area or the second main area in which the user input isterminated.

When the electronic device detects a user selection on at least onecontent displayed on the main area and detects swipe in another mainarea (e.g., a second main area) other than the main area (e.g., a firstmain area) in which the content is displayed, a content display eventaccording to various embodiments of the present invention may bedetected. Thereby, in another main area (e.g., a second main area),additional information about the selected content may be displayed.

In a content display event according to various embodiments of thepresent invention, the electronic device may detect an input forexecuting a specific application or function, and when the specificapplication or function is executed, the electronic device may display arelated screen in the main area and display additional informationrelated to the specific application or function in another main area.

In an embodiment, when the camera is executed, the electronic device maydetect a content display event, display a preview image or aphotographed image in one main area (e.g., the first main area), anddisplay a gallery in which the photographed image is stored or an imagerelated to the photographed image in another main area (e.g., the secondmain area).

In an electronic device according to an embodiment, the display isformed in multi-surfaces, and even when the camera module is providedonly at one surface of the electronic device, the electronic device mayphotograph while viewing a preview image through a display provided atone surface. Accordingly, because the electronic device according to anembodiment may not provide each of the cameras at every surface,components can be reduced, and by generally using a rear camera having ahigher performance than that of a front camera used forself-photographing, a high quality of picture may be obtained.

When the electronic device detects a user selection (e.g., long press)to a content displayed in one of main areas and swipe to another mainarea, a content storing and sharing event according to variousembodiments of the present invention may be detected. The electronicdevice may display a plurality of plates that can distinguish contentsstored at another main area. Further, the electronic device may displayan image (e.g., icon) corresponding to a plurality of plates in asub-area connected and bent between the main areas. In an embodiment,when the electronic device detects swipe of an object (e.g., images,text, etc.) of a content selected in the main area to another main areavia one image of a sub-area, the electronic device may display theselected object in a plate corresponding to an image of the touchedsub-area and store data of the content corresponding to the object.

When contents are displayed in each of the first main area and thesecond main area, if a user selection of the screen conversion icondisplayed on the first main area and the second main area is detected, ascreen conversion event according to various embodiments of the presentinvention may be detected. When the user's holding position is detected,a display position of the screen conversion icon may be changed. Whenthe screen conversion icon is detected, the electronic device mayoverlap and display a content displayed on the first main area and acontent displayed on the second main area, receive a user selection ofone of them, and display the selected content in the first main area.Here, the first main area may be a user viewing area determinedaccording to the user's holding position.

With reference to FIG. 6, the electronic device may detect an eventinput at operation 601 and determine an input event at operation 602.

In an embodiment, the electronic device may determine that a functioncontrol event has been detected. For example, the electronic device maydetermine that a connection to an external electronic device has beendetected.

The electronic device may perform a function corresponding to the eventat operation 603. The electronic device may control the flexible displayaccording to the performed function at operation 604.

In an embodiment, when the connected external electronic device is aBluetooth speaker, the electronic device may display a user interfacecorresponding to a function of the Bluetooth speaker in a sub-area, forexample, a first sub-area. The electronic device may detect a user inputon the user interface displayed in the first sub-area and perform acorresponding function according to the user input. In an embodiment,when a user interface that lowers a volume is selected by the user, theelectronic device may detect the user interface and control to reduce avolume of the speaker connected by Bluetooth.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 7, an electronic device 700 may detect the user'sholding position. By detecting the user's holding position, theelectronic device 700 may determine one area of a plurality of areasthereof to a first sub-area. When determining a first sub-area, a secondsub-area, a first main area, and a second main area, the electronicdevice 700 may detect and determine the user's holding position.

Further, in the electronic device 700, the first sub-area may be fixedaccording to user setting. In an embodiment, in the electronic device700, one of a left hand mode and a right hand mode may be set by theuser. The first sub-area may be determined according to a preset mode.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, theelectronic device may detect a holding position in the first sub-areaand display the user interface in an area adjacent to a thumb.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 8, an electronic device 800 may extend an area inwhich a first sub-area 830 is displayed for user convenience. Theelectronic device 800 may detect a user's gesture in a direction of onearea of main areas and extend and display the first sub-area 830 to someareas of the main areas in which detection is terminated.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 9, an electronic device 900 may detect an inputevent of the user and determine that the event is a function controlevent, i.e., detection of earphone connection.

The electronic device 900 may detect an earphone connection and displaya user interface corresponding to a function related to the earphone ina sub-area, for example, the first sub-area. The electronic device 900may detect a user input 910 on the user interface displayed in the firstsub-area and perform a corresponding function according to the userinput. Even if the user interface is not displayed in the firstsub-area, when a user intuitive input is detected in the first sub-area,the electronic device 900 may perform a function corresponding thereto.

In an embodiment, when a user gesture that lowers a volume is detectedin the first sub-area, the electronic device 900 may control to reduce avolume of a sound output to the earphone.

In another embodiment, when a user input 920 is detected on the userinterface representing rewinding displayed in the first-sub area, theelectronic device 900 may control to rewind reproducing music. Inanother embodiment, in order to rewind in the first sub-area, when auser input that drags in a left direction is detected, the electronicdevice 900 may control to rewind reproducing music.

In another embodiment, when a user input 930 is detected on a userinterface representing quick winding displayed in the first sub-area,the electronic device 900 may control to rewind reproducing music. Inanother embodiment, when a user input that drags in a right direction isdetected for quick winding in the first sub-area, the electronic device900 may control to quickly wind reproducing music.

In another embodiment, when a user input 940 is detected on a userinterface representing reproduction stop displayed in the firstsub-area, the electronic device 900 may control to stop reproducingmusic. In another embodiment, for reproduction stop in the firstsub-area, when a user input of tapping one time is detected, theelectronic device 900 may control to stop reproducing music.

Although not shown, in another embodiment, when a user input (e.g.,double tap) is detected on a user interface representing reproductionstop displayed in the first sub-area, the electronic device 900 maycontrol to reproduce stop music. In another embodiment, when a userinput of double tapping is detected in the first sub-area, theelectronic device 900 may control to reproduce again stop music.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 10, for an additional function corresponding to acontent displayed on a main area, an electronic device 1000 may changeand display a form of an execution icon 1010 corresponding to theadditional function by extending the first sub-area according to a touchposition on the main area of the user or according to a characteristicof the additional function.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, theelectronic device 1000 may operate in a landscape mode or a portraitmode according to the connected or interworked external electronicdevice or function and change a position of an execution icon 1010corresponding to an additional function in order to perform a both handoperation or a one hand operation.

FIG. 11 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 11, an electronic device 1100 may detect an eventinput of the user and determine that the event is a function controlevent, i.e., a user input for executing a specific service orapplication.

In an embodiment, when the electronic device 1100 recognizes executionof a car game application by the user, the electronic device 1100 maydisplay a user interface that can perform a function related to a cargame in a first sub-area. In an embodiment, the electronic device 1100may display a user interface that can perform a function related to thecar game in other areas as well as the first sub-area.

FIGS. 12A to 12B are diagrams illustrating an operation using a flexibledisplay in an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent invention.

With reference to FIG. 12A, an electronic device 1200 may detect acontent display event. According to an embodiment, when the electronicdevice 1200 detects a user touch input to at least one icon 1241 a or1241 b of at least one icon 1241 displayed in a second sub-area 1240 anda swipe input to a first main area 1210 or a second main area 1220, theelectronic device 1200 may detect a content display event. Theelectronic device 1200, having detected the user input may display acontent of an application corresponding to the selected icon 1241 a inthe first main area 1210 or the second main area 1220 in which a userinput is terminated.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device 1200 may detect a userselection of an icon 1241 a corresponding to a web browser applicationand swipe to the first main area 1210. The electronic device 1200 maydisplay a content of the web browser application on the first main area1210. Thereby, the user may use a web browser on the first main area1210.

Further, the electronic device 1200 may detect a user selection of anicon 1241 b corresponding to an SNS application and swipe to the secondmain area 1220. While executing the SNS application, the electronicdevice 1200 may automatically attach a content displayed on the firstmain area 1210 to the SNS application. In another embodiment, theelectronic device 1200 may display a content of the SNS application onthe second main area 1220.

With reference to FIG. 12B, in the first main area 1210 of theelectronic device 1200, a chat application may be executed and a relatedscreen may be displayed. When the user wants to perform a search using aweb browser without screen conversion while using a chat applicationdisplayed in the first main area 1210, the user may select an iconcorresponding to the web browser application displayed in the secondsub-area 1240 and swipe the icon to the second main area 1220 in whichthe chat application is not shown. The electronic device 1200, havingdetected this may display a content of a web browser application, whichis an application corresponding to the icon displayed in the secondsub-area 1240 in the second main area 1220. The user may execute anddisplay the web browser application in the second main area 1220 withthe foregoing simple manipulation while using a chat program in thefirst main area 1210.

According to an embodiment, the electronic device 1200 may detect aselection of an icon corresponding to the web browser applicationdisplayed in the second sub-area 1240 while displaying a screen relatedto a music reproduction application or a web page in the first main area1210. When the user wants to search for music lyrics by using a webbrowser without screen conversion while using the music reproductionapplication displayed in the first main area 1210, the user may selectan icon corresponding to a web browser application displayed in thesecond sub-area 1240 and swipe the icon to the second main area 1220 inwhich a chat application is not displayed. The electronic device 1200,having detected this may display a content of a web browser application,which is an application corresponding to the icon displayed in thesecond sub-area 1240 in the second main area 1220. By executing a webbrowser application activated in the second main area 1220 by turningbackward the electronic device 1200 while using a music reproductionprogram in the first main area 1210, the user may search for a titlerelated to music.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 13, an electronic device 1300 may detect acontent display event. When the electronic device 1300 detects a userselection on at least one content displayed on a main area and detectsswipe to another main area (e.g., a second main area 1320) other than amain area (e.g., a first main area 1310) in which a content isdisplayed, the electronic device 1300 may detect a content displayevent. Thereby, additional information about the selected content may bedisplayed in another main area (e.g., the second main area 1320).

In an embodiment, the electronic device 1300 may detect a user selectionon an e-mail list displayed on the first main area 1310. The electronicdevice 1300 may detect a user selection to at least one e-mail 1311 and1312 of an e-mail list and a swipe input to the second main area 1320.Thereby, the electronic device 1300 may display additional informationabout the selected e-mails 1311 and 1312 in the second main area 1320.Additionally, when the electronic device 1300 simultaneously orsequentially detects the input to a plurality of e-mails 1311 and 1312on the first main area 1310, the electronic device 1300 maysimultaneously or sequentially display additional information about theplurality of e-mails 1321 and 1322 in the second main area 1320.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 1300 may detect a user selectiononto an e-mail list displayed on the first main area 1310. Theelectronic device 1300 may detect a user selection to at least onee-mail 1311 and 1312 of an e-mail list and a swipe input to the secondmain area 1320. Thereby, the electronic device 1300 may display awriting window that can write a reply to the selected email in thesecond main area 1320. Additionally, when the electronic device 1300simultaneously or sequentially detects the input to a plurality ofe-mails 1311 and 1312 on the first main area 1310, the electronic device1300 may simultaneously or sequentially display a writing window thatcan write a reply to the plurality of e-mails in the second main area1320. The user may immediately write a reply e-mail in the second mainarea 1320 by turning the electronic device 1300 backward.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 14, in an electronic device 1400, a camera 1470may be executed by the user. Accordingly, the electronic device 1400 maydetect a content display event and display a preview image or aphotographed image in one main area (e.g., a first main area 1410). Theelectronic device 1400 may display a gallery in which a photographedimage is stored in another main area (e.g., a second main area 1420) oran image related to the photographed image.

FIG. 15 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 15, when an electronic device 1500 detects a userselection (e.g., long press) to a content displayed in one of main areasand swipe to another main area, the electronic device 1500 may detect acontent storing and sharing event.

The electronic device 1500 may execute a clip art function in anothermain area. When the clip art function is executed, the electronic device1500 may display a plurality of plates that can distinguish contentsstored at another main area. Further, the electronic device 1500 maydisplay an image (e.g., an icon) corresponding to the plurality ofplates in a sub-area connected and bent between the main areas.

When the electronic device 1500 detects swipe of an object (e.g., image,text) of a selected content in the main area to another main areathrough an image of one of sub-areas, the electronic device 1500 maydisplay the selected object in a plate corresponding to an image of thetouched sub-area and store data of the content corresponding to theobject at a storage area related to the image.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 1500 may execute a mapapplication in a first main area 1510 to display a content correspondingthereto. The electronic device 1500 may detect a user selection onto thecontent and a swipe input to a second main area 1520. For example, theelectronic device 1500 may detect a long press input or a double tapinput of the user on the content and a swipe input to the second mainarea 1520.

In another embodiment, when the electronic device 1500 detects a userselection (e.g., long press) to a content displayed in one of main areasand swipe to another main area, a content storing and sharing event maybe detected. The electronic device 1500 may display a plurality ofplates 1521 that can distinguish contents stored at another main area(e.g., the second main area 1520). Further, the electronic device 1500may display an image (e.g., an icon) corresponding to a plurality ofplates in the sub-area connected and bent between the main areas. In anembodiment, when the electronic device 1500 detects swipe of an object(e.g., image, text) of a content selected in the main area to anothermain area (e.g., a second main area 1520) via one image 1541 of a secondsub-area 1540, the electronic device 1500 may display the selectedobject in a plate corresponding to an image of the touched secondsub-area 1540 and store data of the content corresponding to the objectat a storage area (e.g., the memory 130) related to the image.

The electronic device 1500 may give an effect 1521 a in order to enablethe user to determine that the plate has been selected while displayingthe selected object in a plate corresponding to an image of the touchedsecond sub-area 1540 on the second main area 1520. Further, when theelectronic device 1500 detects a touch of an image of one of the secondsub-areas 1541, the electronic device 1500 may give an effect even tothe second sub-area 1541 to enable the user to determine.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, when theelectronic device 1500 detects a user selection (e.g., long press) to acontent displayed in one of main areas and swipe to a sub-area, theelectronic device 1500 may detect a content storing and sharing event.

By executing a clip art function on the second main area 1520, theelectronic device 1500 may display an image (e.g., an icon) that is notdisplayed, but corresponding to a plate displayed upon executing theclip art in one of sub-areas connected and bent between the main areas.For example, the area may be a second sub-area 1540.

The electronic device 1500 may detect a user input that swipes andreleases a selected content in at least one of images corresponding tothe plate displayed in the second sub-area 1540. The electronic device1500 may detect a user input to store data corresponding to the contentat a storage area (e.g., the memory 130) related to a released image,even if the electronic device 1500 does not display an objectcorresponding to a content in the second sub-area 1540.

FIG. 16 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to reference number 1660 of FIG. 16, when an electronicdevice 1600 detects a user selection (e.g., long press) to a content ofa map application, which is a content displayed in a first main area1610 and swipe to a second main area 1620, the electronic device 1600may detect a content storing and sharing event.

With reference to reference number 1670, the electronic device 1600displays a plurality of plates 1621 in the second main area 1620, andwhen the electronic device 1600 detects that an object (e.g., images,text) of the selected content is swiped to the second main area 1620,the electronic device 1600 may display the selected object in at leastone plate 1621 a of a plurality of plates and store data of a contentcorresponding to the object. The electronic device 1600 may display theeffect in a selected plate 1621 a among a plurality of plates 1621displayed in the second main area 1620.

Thereafter, the user may share a content stored at the electronic device1600 while performing another function. With reference to referencenumerals 1680 and 1690, while communicating with another party (e.g.,phone call), the electronic device 1600 may display a communicationscreen in the first main area 1610. In an embodiment, the electronicdevice 1600 may execute and display a clip art function in the secondmain area 1620. In another embodiment, when a function related tocommunication is executed and displayed in the first main area 1610, theelectronic device 1600 may execute and display a clip art function inthe second main area 1620.

With reference to reference numeral 1680, the electronic device 1600 maydetect a user input that selects an object displayed in at least oneplate 1621 a of a plurality of plates of a clip art. The electronicdevice 1600 may detect a user selection of the object and a swipe inputto the first main area 1610. The electronic device 1600 may detect theuser input and display a notification notifying that an object isselected in a sub-area in which swipe is detected, for example, a secondsub-area 1640 and is shared in a first main area 1610. For example, thenotification may include lightening and a color change.

With reference to reference numeral 1690, the electronic device 1600 mayoverlap and display one object selected by the user on the first mainarea 1610 that displays a screen that performs another function, forexample, communication with another party. In an embodiment, when aswipe input of the user is released, the electronic device 1600 mayshare data of a content corresponding to the object with another party.

FIG. 17 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to reference numeral 1760, when an electronic device 1700is communicating with another party (e.g., phone call), the electronicdevice 1700 may display a communication screen in a first main area1710. The electronic device 1700 may display icons corresponding to aplurality of functions or applications displayed in a second sub-area1740. The electronic device 1700 may detect a user input that selects atleast one 1741 a of icons and a swipe input to a second main area 1720.The electronic device 1700 may execute and display a function or anapplication corresponding to the selected icon 1741 a in the second mainarea 1720 while maintaining a communication screen display in a firstmain area 1710.

With reference to reference numeral 1770, the electronic device 1700 maydetect a user selection of the icon 1741 a corresponding to a mapapplication among icons of the second sub-area 1740 and a swipe input tothe second main area 1720, execute the application in the second mainarea 1720, and display a screen corresponding thereto. The electronicdevice 1700 may detect a user input for selecting one of contentsrelated to the map application displayed on the second main area 1720.In an embodiment, the input for selecting a content may include a longpress or a double tap input. The content may be captured and an object1721 corresponding to the content may be generated through the longpress or the double tap input.

With reference to reference numeral 1780, the electronic device 1700 maydetect a swipe input of an object 1721 corresponding to a contentselected by the user to the first main area 1710 in which acommunication screen is displayed. The electronic device 1700 may movean object 1721 corresponding to a content selected by the user onto thefirst main area 1710 to overlap and display the object 1721 on acommunication screen displayed on the first main area 1710. When a swipeinput of the user is released or when a swipe input of the user arriveson the first main area 1710, the electronic device 1700 may transmitdata of the content corresponding to the object 1721 to communicatinganother party. The content data may include an image of the contentselected by the user, a web page in which the content is displayed, or alink address that can execute an application.

With reference to reference numeral 1790, when transmission of datatransmitted by the user is complete or when another party receivesreception completion information of the data through a network, theelectronic device 1700 may display a notification on the first main area1710 that displays a communication screen. The notification may includea notification such as display of a random image at a periphery of aprofile picture and a phone number of another party in the communicationscreen displayed on the first main area 1710. In an embodiment, becausetransmission data are data related to a map, a map related icon 1711 maybe displayed at a periphery of a profile picture and a phone number ofanother party.

FIG. 18 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 18, an electronic device 1800 may divide andcontrol a flexible display into a first main area 1810 and a second mainarea, which are main areas of a front surface and a rear surface thereofand a first sub-area and a second sub-area 1840, which are sub-areas ofa side surface thereof. In the second sub-area 1840, a plurality ofimages (e.g., icon 1841) corresponding to the plurality of applicationsor functions may be displayed.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 1800 may detect a user selectioninput on the second sub-area 1840 and a swipe input to an area, forexample, the first main area 1810 in which a user views the electronicdevice 1800. Whether the user views which area of the first main area1810 and the second main area of the electronic device 1800 may bedetermined based on the user's holding position. Further, whether theuser views which area of the first main area 1810 and the second mainarea of the electronic device 1800 may be determined by determiningwhether which mode of a preset left hand mode and right hand mode isactivated.

The electronic device 1800, having detected a user input may extend andmove a size and position of an icon 1841 displayed in the secondsub-area 1840 to an area in which the user's swipe input is released. Inan embodiment, when the electronic device 1800 detects that the useruses the second main area thereof, the second sub-area 1840 extended anddisplayed to the first main area 1810 may be extended and displayed tothe second main area in an opposite direction.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 19, in a second sub-area 1940 of an electronicdevice 1900, a plurality of images (e.g., icons 1941) corresponding to aplurality of applications or functions may be displayed. The electronicdevice 1900 may display a plurality of icons 1941 with transparent,black and white, etc., in the second sub-area 1940. When the electronicdevice 1900 detects an input such as a user's selection input and aswipe input, the electronic device 1900 may change and display a colorof a selected icon 1941 a among the icons 1941 displayed withtransparent or black and white in order to represent user selection andactivation.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 1900 may detect an input thatselects one icon 1941 a (e.g., SNS application) of a plurality of icons1941 displayed with transparent and black and white in the secondsub-area 1940 and a swipe input to a second main area 1920. Theelectronic device 1900 may detect the user input to execute anapplication (e.g., SNS application) corresponding to the icon 1941 a inthe second main area 1920 and display a screen related to theapplication.

FIG. 20 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 20, in a second sub-area 2040 of an electronicdevice 2000, a plurality of images (e.g., icons) corresponding to aplurality of applications or functions may be displayed. The electronicdevice 2000 may detect a swipe input of the user in a direction fromdownward to upward on the second sub-area 2040. When the electronicdevice 2000 detects a user input, the electronic device 2000 may controla plurality of images displayed on the second sub-area 2040 todisappear.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, when theelectronic device 2000 detects a user input, the electronic device 2000may enable a plurality of images displayed on the second sub-area 2040to disappear and extend and display a content displayed on the firstmain area or the second main area to the second sub-area 2040.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, an inputdetected on the second sub-area 2040 to enable a plurality of images todisappear is not limited to a swipe input from downward to upward. Whenthe electronic device 2000 detects a gesture (e.g., a double tap) set bythe user on the second sub-area 2040, the electronic device 2000 maycontrol the second sub-area 2040 to control a plurality of images todisappear.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, when a userinput is detected in a plurality of images displayed in the secondsub-area 2040 for a predetermined time, a display of the second sub-area2040 may be terminated.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, theelectronic device 2000 may detect that the user does not carry or viewthe electronic device 2000 through a motion sensor or an iris sensorthereof to control a plurality of images displayed in the secondsub-area 2040 to disappear.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, when theelectronic device 2000 detects a user input (e.g., a rubbing input, atap input, drag from the top to the bottom, and drag from the bottom tothe top) on a second sub-area 2040 in which a plurality of images aredisappeared, the electronic device 2000 may display again a plurality ofdisappeared icons.

FIGS. 21A to 21F are diagrams illustrating an operation using a flexibledisplay in an electronic device according to various embodiments of thepresent invention.

With reference to FIG. 21A, an electronic device 2100 may display amoving picture screen in one area (e.g., a first main area 2110) of thefirst main area 2110 and a second main area 2120. The electronic device2100 may display a reproduction bar representing a reproduction level ofa moving picture screen displayed in at least one area (e.g., a secondsub-area 2140) of a first sub-area 2130 and the second sub-area 2140connected to an area in which the moving picture screen is displayed.

In an embodiment, when a moving picture reproduction screen is displayedin the first main area 2110, the electronic device 2100 the electronicdevice 2100 may detect a user input to a reproduction bar displayed onthe second sub-area 2140. The electronic device 2100 may control movingpicture reproduction to a time corresponding to a user touch location onthe reproduction bar.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, theelectronic device 2100 may display a process of downloading a movingpicture or a file in one area (e.g., the first main area 2110) of thefirst main area 2110 and the second main area 2120. The electronicdevice 2100 may display a progress bar representing a download leveldisplayed in at least one area (e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of thefirst sub-area 2130 and the second sub-area 2140 connected to an area inwhich the process is displayed.

With reference to FIG. 21B, the electronic device 2100 may display apreview image corresponding to camera execution in one area (e.g., thefirst main area 2110) of the first main area 2110 and the second mainarea 2120. The electronic device 2100 may display a zoom bar that cancontrol zoom-in or zoom-out of a preview image in at least one area(e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of the first sub-area 2130 and thesecond sub-area 2140 connected to an area in which a preview image isdisplayed.

With reference to FIG. 21C, the electronic device 2100 may display ahealth related application in one area (e.g., a first main area 2110) ofthe first main area 2110 and the second main area 2120. The electronicdevice 2100 may display a state bar related to a health relatedapplication in at least one area (e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of thefirst sub-area 2130 and the second sub-area 2140 connected to an area inwhich the health related application is displayed.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may display a pedometerapplication as a health related application in the first main area 2110.The electronic device 2100 may display an image, for example, a bargraph representing the number of steps in at least one area (e.g., thesecond sub-area 2140) of the first sub-area 2130 and the second sub-area2140 connected to an area in which the pedometer application isdisplayed. In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may display aheart rate received from the electronic device 2100 or an externalelectronic devices 2100 interworked with the electronic device 2100, anda moving path and moving speed of the electronic device 2100 on thesecond sub-area 2140.

With reference to FIG. 21D, the electronic device 2100 may display animage (e.g., icon) related to an application or a function in onesub-area (e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of sub-areas connected to atleast one area of the first main area 2110 and the second main area2120. In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may display an icon2141 related to a mail application in the second sub-area 2140, and whena user selection is detected, the electronic device 2100 may display ascreen related to a mail application corresponding to the icon 2141 inat least one area (e.g., the first main area 2110) of the first mainarea 2110 and the second main area 2120. When the electronic device 2100detects a user selection of the icon 2141 of the email-relatedapplication displayed in the second sub-area 2140, the electronic device2100 may change and display a color in order to mean activation. In anembodiment, the electronic device 2100 may change and display a color ofonly a partial area of the icon 2141 to correspond to a ratio of unreademails to the entire emails of an email related application displayed inthe second sub-area 2140.

With reference to FIG. 21E, the electronic device 2100 may display animage (e.g., an icon 2142) related to an application or a function inone sub-area (e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of sub-areas connected toat least one area of the first main area 2110 and the second main area2120. In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may display an icon2142 related to a communication application in the second sub-area 2140,and when the electronic device 2100 detects a user selection, theelectronic device 2100 may display a communication applicationcorresponding to the icon 2142 on a screen related to at least one area(e.g., the first main area 2110) of the first main area 2110 and thesecond main area 2120. When the electronic device 2100 detects a userselection of the icon 2142 of the communication related applicationdisplayed in the second sub-area 2140, the electronic device 2100 maychange and display a color thereof in order to mean activation. In anembodiment, the electronic device 2100 may change and display only acolor of a partial area of the icon 2141 to correspond to a ratio ofcalls received during absence of a user to the entire reception andtransmission of a communication related application displayed in thesecond sub-area 2140.

With reference to FIG. 21F, the electronic device 2100 may display animage (e.g., an icon 2143) related to an application or a function inone sub-area (e.g., the second sub-area 2140) of sub-areas connected toat least one area of a first main area 2110 and a second main area 2120.In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may display an icon 2143related to a bookmark or clipboard function in the second sub-area 2140,and when the electronic device 2100 detects a user selection, theelectronic device 2100 may set a bookmark or clipboard functioncorresponding to the icon 2143 to a bookmark among contents such as aplurality of applications or web pages in at least one area (e.g., thefirst main area 2110) of the first main area 2110 and the second mainarea 2120 or may display contents stored at a clipboard in a list form.

In an embodiment, the electronic device 2100 may change a view format ofcontents that are set to a bookmark or stored at the clipboard. As shownin FIG. 21F, a view format of contents may be displayed in a thumbnailformat.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, when theelectronic device 2100 detects a user selection of the icon 2143 of abookmark or clipboard function displayed in the second sub-area 2140,the electronic device 2100 may change and display a color thereof inorder to represent activation.

According to various embodiments of the present invention, theelectronic device 2100 may display contents formed with a plurality ofpages such as a news screen or a book page on the first main area 2110or the second main area 2120. The electronic device 2100 may provide theeffect of moving to a next page onto the first sub-area 2130 or thesecond sub-area 2140 connected to the displayed area. In an embodiment,in order to represent the effect of moving to a next page on the firstsub-area 2130 or the second sub-area 2140, the electronic device 2100may display an image of a side surface of a book page and display amoving book page.

FIG. 22 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

With reference to FIG. 22, an electronic device 2200 may detect a screenconversion event. According to an embodiment, when contents aredisplayed in each of a first main area 2210 and a second main area 2220,if the electronic device 2200 detects a user selection of a screenconversion icon 2215 displayed on the first main area 2210 or the secondmain area 2220, the electronic device 2200 may detect a screenconversion event. A displayed location of the screen conversion icon2215 may be changed according to detection of a user's holding position.When a user input is detected on the screen conversion icon 2215, theelectronic device 2200 may translucently overlap and display on acontent displayed in the first main area 2210 and a content displayed inthe second main area 2220 and receive an input of a gesture that movesone of the contents toward the first main area 2210 from the user. Theelectronic device 2200 may display the selected content in the firstmain area 2210. A non-selected content may be displayed in the secondmain area 2220. Here, the first main area 2210 may be a user viewingarea determined according to the user's holding position, and the secondmain area 2220 may be a non-viewing area of the user determinedaccording to the user's holding position.

FIGS. 23A and 23B are diagrams illustrating an operation using aflexible display in an electronic device according to variousembodiments of the present invention.

The electronic device may recognize at least one of peripheral externalelectronic devices and communicate with the recognized electronicdevice. The electronic device may communicate with the externalelectronic device through WiFi, Bluetooth, iBeacon, RF, and NFC.

In an embodiment, with reference to FIGS. 23A and 23B, an externalelectronic device 2350 may be a television. With reference to referencenumeral 2360, the electronic device 2300 may display a user interfacethat can control a function related to the external electronic device2350 in a first sub-area 2330 in response to a connection incommunication with the external electronic device 2350. The userinterface may be a user interface that can adjust a channel or a volumeof the television, which is the external electronic device 2350.

With reference to reference numeral 2370, an electronic device 2300 maydetect a user gesture in a direction of one area (e.g., the first mainarea 2310) of main areas from a first sub-area 2330 in which a userinterface is displayed. The electronic device 2300 may extend anddisplay the first sub-area 2330 or a user interface displayed in thefirst sub-area 2330 to a partial area of a main area (e.g., a first mainarea 2310) in which detection of a user gesture is terminated.

In an embodiment, the electronic device may extend the first sub-area2330 to the entire first main area 2310 according to an area in whichdetection of the user gesture is terminated.

With reference to reference numeral 2380 of FIG. 23B, the electronicdevice 2300 may detect a screen conversion event. According to anembodiment, a user interface 2311 that can control a function related toa television, which is the external electronic device 2350 may bedisplayed in the first main area 2310, and a home screen 2321 of theelectronic device may be displayed in the second main area (not shown).

According to an embodiment, the first main area 2310 may be a userviewing area determined according to the user's holding position, andthe second main area may be an area in which the user does not view anddetermined according to the user's holding position.

The electronic device 2300 may respond to detection of selection of theuser's screen conversion icon 2315 and display a home screen 2321 of theelectronic device 2300 displayed in the second main area in the firstmain area 2310, as shown in reference numeral 2390. Further, the userinterface 2311 that can control a function related to the externalelectronic device 2350 displayed in the first main area 2310 may bedisplayed in the second main area.

FIG. 24 is a diagram illustrating an operation using a flexible displayin an electronic device according to various embodiments of the presentinvention.

According to an embodiment, with reference to reference numeral 2480, anelectronic device 2400 may have a payment function. When the electronicdevice 2400 is tagged to a device 2450 that performs a payment function,such as point of sales (POS) of a store or is positioned adjacent to thePOS, the electronic device 2400 may display a user interface that cancontrol a payment function in a first sub-area 2430.

With reference to reference numeral 2490, the electronic device maydisplay a card that can pay in the first sub-area 2430. When the card isselected by the user, the electronic device 2400 may move and displaythe selected card to one (e.g., a first main area 2410) of main areas.Further, the electronic device 2400 may display a user interface thatrequests user authentication for payment. The user may be authenticatedthrough a user interface that requests user authentication displayed inthe first sub-area 2430.

In the foregoing description, a flexible display of an electronic deviceand a method of operating the same according to an embodiment of thepresent invention have been described through the present specificationand drawings and specific terms have been used, but exemplaryembodiments disclosed in this specification and drawings are suggestedas a specific example to easily describe the present invention and tohelp understanding thereof and do not limit the scope of the presentinvention. That is, various embodiments based on the technical conceptin the present invention will be apparent to those of ordinary skill inthe art.

1. An electronic device comprising: a flexible display including a firstmain area disposed on a front surface of the electronic device, a secondmain area disposed on a rear surface of the electronic device, and asub-area connected and bent between the first main area and the secondmain area such that the sub-area comprises a curved surface in at leasta portion thereof, wherein the first main area, the second main area,and the sub-area are integrally formed; and at least one processorconfigured to control an electronic device function operation based onthe flexible display, wherein the at least one processor is configuredto control to: display a plurality of icons, each of the iconsrespectively corresponding to an application in the sub-area, identify,in response to detecting a first input for selecting at least one iconof the plurality of icons in the sub-area, an application correspondingto the selected at least one icon, execute the application in responseto detecting a release of a second input continuously inputted from aninput of the sub-area, and display an execution screen of theapplication in an area where the release of the second input is detectedon the first main area and the second main area.
 2. The electronicdevice of claim 1, wherein the first input and the second input includeselection input for the at least one icon of the plurality icons andswipe input toward the first main area or the second main area.
 3. Theelectronic device of claim 1, wherein the second input is continuousinput from the first input.
 4. The electronic device of claim 1, whereinthe second input is swipe input toward the first main area or the secondmain area.
 5. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: attach a content of anotherapplication which is executed in the main area which is not executed theapplication to the application executed according to a release of thesecond input.
 6. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at leastone processor is further configured to: detect a selection input to atleast one content on a screen displayed in the main area, detect a swipeinput of the selected content to the other main area, and displayadditional information related to the content in the other main area. 7.The electronic device of claim 6, wherein the at least one processor isfurther configured to: store the selected at least one content based ona long press selection input and the swipe input to the other main area.8. The electronic device of claim 1, wherein the at least one processoris further configured to: detect a swipe input of a user interfacedisplayed in the sub-area, and extend the user interface to a partial orentire area of the first main area or the second area in which the swipeinput is released according to an area in which detection of the swipeinput released.
 9. A method for controlling a flexible display of anelectronic device, wherein the flexible display includes a first mainarea disposed on a front surface of the electronic device, a second mainarea disposed on a rear surface of the electronic device, and a sub-areaextended from the first main area and the second main area, the methodcomprising: displaying a plurality of icons, each of the iconsrespectively corresponding to an application in the sub-area;identifying, in response to detecting a first input for selecting atleast one icon of the plurality of icons in the sub-area, an applicationcorresponding to the selected at least one icon; executing theapplication in response to detecting a release of a second inputcontinuously inputted from an input of the sub-area; and displaying anexecution screen of the application in an area where the release of thesecond input is detected on the first main area and the second mainarea.
 10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first main area, the secondmain area, and the sub-area are integrally formed.
 11. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the first input and the second input include selectioninput for the at least one icon of the plurality icons and swipe inputtoward the first main area or the second main area.
 12. The method ofclaim 9, wherein the second input is continuous input from the firstinput.
 13. The method of claim 9, wherein the second input is swipeinput toward the first main area or the second main area.
 14. The methodof claim 9, wherein the sub-area is connected and bent between the firstmain area and the second main area.
 15. The method of claim 9, whereinthe sub-area comprises a curved surface in at least a portion thereof.16. The method of claim 9, further comprising: attaching a content ofanother application which is executed in the main area which is notexecuted the application to the application executed according to arelease of the second input.
 17. The method of claim 9, furthercomprising detecting a selection input to at least one content on ascreen displayed in the main area; detecting a swipe input of theselected content to the other main area; and displaying additionalinformation related to the content in the other main area.
 18. Themethod of claim 17, further comprising: storing the selected at leastone content based on a long press selection input and the swipe input tothe other main area.
 19. The method of claim 9, further comprising:detecting a swipe input of a user interface displayed in the sub-area;and extending the user interface to a partial or entire area of thefirst main area or the second area in which the swipe input is releasedaccording to an area in which detection of the swipe input released.